Remembering Histories of Trauma: North American Genocide and the Holocaust in Public Memory

Remembering Histories of Trauma compares and links Native American, First Nation, and Jewish histories of traumatic memory, examining the differences between ancestral experiences of genocide and their representation in public sites in the United States, Canada, and Europe. It challenges the ways public bodies have used those histories to frame cultural and political identity and considers the effects on internal group memory, external public memory, and cultural assimilation.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 304 pages
Publication date: 21 April 2022
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Remembering Histories of Trauma explores the intricate connections between Native American, First Nation, and Jewish histories of traumatic memory, comparing and contrasting their narratives. Drawing from a wealth of source material across the Atlantic, the book delves into the disparities between ancestral experiences of genocide and their representation in public sites in the United States, Canada, and Europe. It challenges the ways in which public bodies have employed these histories to shape cultural and political identities within regions, states, and nations. By examining the impact of these representations on internal group memory, external public memory, and cultural assimilation, the book offers a fresh perspective on the Native-Jewish encounter. Through highlighting shared critiques of public historical representation, Mailer seeks to transcend historical tensions between Native American studies and Holocaust studies. By linking and comparing European and American contexts of historical trauma and their representation in public memory, the book brings together Native American studies, Jewish studies, early American history, Holocaust studies, and museum studies in a dialogue. It reveals similarities in the public portrayal of Indigenous genocide and the Holocaust, providing a common ground for Jewish and Indigenous histories. Moreover, it offers a novel framework for understanding the divergences between traumatic histories and the ways they are memorialized. This comprehensive work contributes to our understanding of the complex interplay between historical trauma, memory, and cultural identity, shedding light on the shared experiences and challenges faced by these communities.

Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781350240636